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Norwegian Wood

Front Cover
800 Reviews
Random House UK, Jul 4, 2003 - Fiction - 389 pages
First American Publication

This stunning and elegiac novel by the author of the internationally acclaimed Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has sold over 4 million copies in Japan and is now available to American audiences for the first time.  It is sure to be a literary event.

Toru, a quiet and preternaturally serious young college student in Tokyo, is devoted to Naoko, a beautiful and introspective young woman, but their mutual passion is marked by the tragic death of their best friend years before.  Toru begins to adapt to campus life and the loneliness and isolation he faces there, but Naoko finds the pressures and responsibilities of life unbearable.  As she retreats further into her own world, Toru finds himself reaching out to others and drawn to a fiercely independent and sexually liberated young woman.

A poignant story of one college student's romantic coming-of-age, Norwegian Wood takes us to that distant place of a young man's first, hopeless, and heroic love.

What people are saying - Write a review

User ratings

5 stars
330
4 stars
179
3 stars
71
2 stars
41
1 star
30

Sweet and beautifully sad love story. - weRead
The ending sentence is misleading. - Goodreads
Many authors have a distinct writing style and plot. - Goodreads
The ending just spoiled the whole book. - weRead
Incredible storytelling without a wasted word. - weRead
An intriguing love story. - weRead

Review: Norwegian Wood

User Review  - Blues for Eden - Goodreads

Haruki Murakami is considered to be one of the best post modern authors. However, it was this book that changed his status from cult author to the face of Japanese literary fiction, much to his dismay ... Read full review

Review: Norwegian Wood

User Review  - Nor Mansor - Goodreads

Murakami definitely gifted in telling stories. The way he writes allows me to follow Toru through his life, and most of the times I felt as if I was there - the painful, lonely spring Toru had to ... Read full review

All 800 reviews »

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About the author (2003)

Haruki Murakami lives near Tokyo.

Newly translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin.

Bibliographic information